The translator thanks Vyvyan Benlloch and Bariş Perin, without whom nothing would be possible. I am greatly indebted to the author, Ece Temelkuran, who helped me every step along the way. To Saliha Paker, thank you so very much—this book would not be here if it weren’t for you. Many heartfelt thanks to Sandra Alcosser and Ilya Kaminsky, who spent so much time helping me revise this, among so many other things they’ve done for me, and to Peter Conners and Thom Ward at BOA, for giving this book a chance and bringing it to the English-speaking world. Finally, I am very grateful to Mel Kenne, Donné Raffat, Sharon Bryan, Piotr Florczyk, Reginald S. Hui, and Susan Beth Laddon, for their guidance along the way—and to the late Mehmed Uzun, whose friendship and unwavering support will not be forgotten.

About the Author

About the Author

Ece Temelkuran, poet and journalist, was born in Turkey in 1973. She has published eight books of poetry, prose, and nonfiction. Her collections of poetry and prose include All Women Are Confused (Iletişim, 1993), Book of the Inside (Everest, 2002) and Book of the Edge (Everest, 2002). Her investigative journalism books broach subjects that are highly controversial in Turkey, such as Kurdish and Armenian issues, the women’s movement, and political prisoners. These include My Son, My Daughter, My State—The Mothers Of Political Detainees, from Their Homes to the Streets (Metis, 1997), We Are Having a Revolution Here, Senorita! (Everest, 2006), and, most recently, The Deep Mountain (Everest, 2008).

Ece Temelkuran is the recipient of several awards and fellowships, including Germany’s Turkish Journalist of the Year Award (1996), the Diyarbakir Democratic Platform’s Peace, Friendship, and Democracy Award (2006), and the Human Rights Foundation’s Ayşenur Zarakol Freedom of Thought Award (2008). In 2008, she was Visiting Fellow at the University of Oxford’s Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism. She divides her time between Istanbul, Oxford, and Beirut, and writes as a columnist for Turkey’s Milliyet newspaper.

About the Translator

About the Translator

Deniz Perin has an MFA in Poetry from San Diego State University. Her work and translations from the Turkish have appeared in various national and international literary journals, including Atlanta Review, The New Review of Literature, Poetry International, Transcript, and Words Without Borders. In 2007, she was a recipient of the Anna Akhmatova Fellowship for Younger Translators. Her translations of Nazim Hikmet’s poetry are forthcoming in the Ecco Book of International Poetry (Harper Collins, 2010 ). She teaches literature and writing at the University of San Diego.

The Lannan Translations Selection Series

The Lannan Translations Selection Series